John Rafter Lee

For other people named John Lee, see John Lee (disambiguation).

John Rafter Lee is an English actor, narrator, playwright and producer.

John Rafter Lee
Born	England
Occupations	Actor narrator playwright producer
Years active	1992–present

Biography

Lee was born in England with Irish ancestry.^[1] His father worked as a carpenter and other men in his family were blacksmiths, brick layers and plumbers.^[1] Lee himself has worked in agriculture, picking fruit, which he considers much more difficult than voice acting.^[1]

Career

Lee has narrated hundreds of audiobooks.^[1] "His trademark rich, smooth voice with its hint of a growl turns the word into a seduction", according to AudioFile.^[1] He has won numerous Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and he was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile in 2009.^[1]

In film, he portrayed the mysterious Trevor Goodchild in Peter Chung's Æon Flux. Other voice credits include Meier Link in both Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Vampire Hunter D, Pavlo Zaitsev in episode 16 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Jason Wynn in HBO's Spawn animated series, and Aristotle in Reign: The Conqueror. John also had a role as a voice actor playing Cid Bunansa in the video game Final Fantasy XII.

Lee was also the producer and screenwriter for the 2001 film Breathing Hard, in which he played the character John Duggan. His Æon Flux co-star Denise Poirier plays his wife Carol.

He has written the plays Blood and Milk, Hitler's Head, Passchendaele, Clean Souls and Frankincense. He has adapted into English Schiller's Don Carlos, Racine's Britannicus and Grabbe's Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Significance. Passchendaele received its first production at the New York Fringe Festival in August 2010.

His latest film, which he wrote and co-produced, is Forfeit, which received its premier at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. He is currently writing a film to be shot in his hometown, Birmingham, England.

Awards and honors

AudioFile named Lee a Golden Voice narrator.^[2]

Awards

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
2003	The Fifth Sorceress (2002) by Robert Newcomb	Audie Award for Science Fiction	Finalist	[3]
2004	A Death in Vienna(2004) by Daniel Silva	Earphone Award	Winner	[4]
2006	The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven	Listen Up Award for Teens	Winner	[5]
	Cloud Atlas (2004) by David Mitchell	Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics	Finalist	[6]
	The Sea by John Banville	Listen Up Award for Fiction	Winner	[5]
2008	Dreaming Void by Peter Hamilton	Listen Up Award for Science Fiction/Fantasy	Finalist	[7]
	The Long Walk by Sławomir Rawicz	Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male	Finalist	[8]
	Poe's Children: The New Horror, edited by Peter Straus	Listen Up Award for Full Cast/Multiple Voices	Finalist	[7]
	The Solitude of Thomas Cave (2007) by Georgina Harding	Earphone Award	Winner	[9]
	White Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack London	Audie Award for Classics	Finalist	[8]
	The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga	Earphone Award	Winner	[10]
		Listen Up Award for Fiction	Finalist	[7]
2009	The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas	Earphone Award	Winner	[11]
		Audie Award for Classic	Finalist	[11][12]
		Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male	Winner	[11][12]
	The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga	Audie Award for Literary Fiction	Finalist	[12][10]
		Audie Award for Solo Narration - Male	Finalist	[12][10]
2010	Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre	Listen Up Award for Nonfiction	Winner	[13]
	The Price of Love and Other Stories (1999) by Anne Baker	Audie Award for Thriller or Suspense	Finalist	[14]
2011	Fall of Giants (2010) by Ken Follett	Audie Award for Fiction	Finalist	[15]
	This Body of Death by Elizabeth George	Audie Award for Mystery	Finalist	[15]
	The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins	Audie Award for Classic	Winner	[15]
2012	Double Cross by Ben Macintyre	Listen Up Award for Nonfiction	Finalist	[16]
2013	Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker	Audie Award for Classic	Finalist	[17]
		Audie Award for Distinguished Achievement in Production	Winner	[17]
		Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance	Winner	[17][18]
	The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh	Listen Up Award for Nonfiction	Finalist	[19]
2014	A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre	Listen Up Award for Nonfiction	Winner	[20]
2015	A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre	Audie Award for History or Biography	Finalist	[21]
2016	Sweetland (2015) by Michael Crummey	Audie Award for Literary Fiction or Classics	Finalist	[22]
2018	Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCarten	Earphone Award	Winner	[23]
	Spellmonger, Book 1 by Terry Mancour	Audie Award for Fantasy	Finalist	[24]
2019	Darkest Hour (2017) by Anthony McCarten	Audie Award for History or Biography	Winner	[25][26]
2020	Lovely War (2019) by Julie Berry	Audie Award for Young Adult Title	Finalist	[27]
	The Splendid and the Vile (2020) by Erik Larson	Earphone Award	Winner	[28]
2022	The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) by Agatha Christie	Audie Award for Mystery	Finalist	[29]

"Best of" lists

Year	Title	List	Ref.
2004	A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva	AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense	[2]
	White Fang / Call of the Wild (1906) by Jack London	AudioFile Best of Classics	[2]
2007	Midnight over Sanctaphrax by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell	ALSC Notable Children's Recordings	[30]
2008	The Black Tattoo by Sam Enthoven	Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults	[31]
	The Solitude of Thomas Cave (2007) by Georgina Harding	AudioFile Best of Fiction	[2]
	The White Tiger (2008) by Aravind Adiga	AudioFile Best of Fiction	[2]
2009	The Count of Monte Cristo(1846) by Alexandre Dumas	AudioFile Best of Classics	[2]
2010	The Bell Ringers (2010) by Henry Porter	AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense	[2]
	The History of the Medieval World(2010) by Susan Wise Bauer	AudioFile Best of History & Historical Fiction	[2]
	The Price of Love and Other Stories (1999) by Anne Baker	AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense	[2]
	The Swan Thieves (2010) by Elizabeth Kostova	AudioFile Best of Fiction	[2]
2013	The Redeemer (2013) by Jo Nesbø	AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense	[2]
2015	The Abyss Beyond Dreams (2014) by Peter F. Hamilton	Booklist Editors' Choice: Audio for Adults	[32]
		Booklist's Top 10 Adult SF/Fantasy/Horror on Audio	[33]
	Sweetland (2015) by Michael Crummey	AudioFile Best of Fiction	[2]
2016	The Hero With A Thousand Faces (1949) by Joseph Campbell	AudioFile Best of Nonfiction & Culture	[2]
2017	Prussian Blue (2017) by Philip Kerr	Booklist's Audio Stars for Adults	[34]
		Booklist Editors' Choice: Audio for Adults	[35]
		Booklist's Top 10 Crime Fiction Audiobooks	[36]
	The Thirst (2017) by Jo Nesbø with Neil Smith (trans.)	AudioFile Best of Mystery & Suspense	[2]
2020	Lovely War (2019) by Julie Berry	Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults	[37]
	The Splendid and the Vile (2020) by Erik Larson	AudioFile Best of History & Biography	[2]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Small Kill	Hit Man
1998	Todd McFarlane's Spawn 2	Jason Wynn	Voice
1999	Todd McFarlane's Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle	Jason Wynn
1999	George Lucas in Love	Ranter	Short
1999	Princess Mononoke		Voice
2000	Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust	Meier Link	Voice[38]
2001	Breathing Hard	John Duggan	Also writer and producer
2003	Jules Verne & Walt Disney: Explorers of Imagination	Narrator	Documentary
2007	Forfeit	—	Writer and producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Æon Flux	Trevor Goodchild	Voice, 10 episodes[38]
1997–1999	Todd McFarlane's Spawn	Jason Wynn	Voice, 17 episodes[38]
2000	Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki	Azusa Jurai	Voice, Episode: "Here Comes Jurai"
2003	Reign: The Conqueror	Aristotle	Voice, 4 episodes
2003	Ninja Scroll: The Series	Renya Yagyu	Voice
2003–2004	Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex	Kusunoki, Zaitsef, Security Guard, Yaku Humimari (voices)	Voice, 4 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Vampire Hunter D	Meier Link	[38]
2000	Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption
2006	Final Fantasy XII	Cid Bunansa	[38]